Interviewed and wrote about Nur Onvural, an academic, entrepreneur, and longtime volunteer.

1. TITLE:
Associate professor of Economics
and Finance, Pfeiffer University;
general contractor and owner
of SilverCrest Homes
LIVES IN:
Cary
HOMETOWN:
Ankara, Turkey. Her father was in
the Air Force, so the family moved
frequently before settling in Ankara
when Onvural was in high school.
FAMILY:
Two sons, Melih, 31, and Doruk, 26,
and three grandchildren
EDUCATION:
Bachelor’s degree in chemical
engineering, Middle East Technical
University; master’s in business
administration and doctorate of
economics, N.C. State University
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
Cary Chamber of Commerce, Cary
MacGregor Rotary Club, American
Turkish Association of N.C.
FIRST JOB:
Lab assistant sorting mainframe
printouts in a computer lab
HOBBIES:
Ballroom and Latin dancing, cooking
(She published a Turkish cookbook
as a fundraiser.)
ALTHOUGH SHE HAS held many
jobs, Nur Onvural has never strayed far from
the classroom.
Since arriving in the United States to
pursue graduate studies in 1983, she has
been a project manager for Blue Cross Blue
Shield, a builder of luxury homes and a vol-
unteer with several civic groups. All these ex-
periences have fed her passion for teaching.
“I have gained so much exposure and
experience to improve myself so I can be a
better teacher for my students,” she said.
The associate professor of econom-
ics and finance is inspired by her students
at Pfeiffer University, where she has taught
since 2002, full-time for the past six years.
She has also taught at N.C. State University
and N.C. A&T in Greensboro.
“When I see that students learn, that’s
what keeps me going,” said Onvural. “I could
be extremely tired, and when I get in the class-
room, I get energized. I could teach, and go on
and on. My students tell me all the time that
I care. If they don’t learn something, I spend
more time until they learn that concept.
“Then there are the emails that tell you
you’re their favorite teacher. ‘They learned so
much from you. You made it so much easier
for them to learn.’ When you get that email,
it makes your day.”
Her enthusiasm for passing on knowl-
edge is paired with a studious curiosity.
When her family built their home in the
early 2000s, her schedule as an adjunct pro-
fessor allowed her to spend hours at the job
site. She quizzed the designers and craftsmen
about the best products and techniques.
“Building my own home was a two-year
process,” she said. “Having part-time jobs,
I was able to allocate a lot of time to work
with the builder, work with the suppliers,
and pick all the features.”
In 2004, Onvural put that knowledge
to work when she and a partner started Sil-
verCrest Homes, building luxury residences.
“I’m proud of the houses I built; they
were like my babies,” she said. “They were all
custom homes, where you pay attention to
every little detail.”
While building homes was rewarding,
Onvural says it was difficult to run a small
business and keep up with a demanding
teaching job. When the Great Recession hit,
it was time for a change.
In 2010, she accepted a full-time posi-
tion teaching economics and finance at Pfei-
ffer University.
“Between 2008 and 2014 there was ab-
solutely nothing happening in the housing
market,” she said. “I built seven homes with
an average price of $1.5 million, average size of
5,500 to 6,000 square feet. But I think I made
the right decision to return to academia.”
In her classes, she draws on her experience
as an entrepreneur. She encourages her students
to be what she calls “intra-preneurial,” to bring
creative problem-solving and an entrepreneur-
ial spirit to their existing companies.
This is particularly true of her students
in the Masters of Health Administration
program, many of whom work at area hospi-
Nur
Onvural
WRITTEN BY AMBER KEISTER
PHOTOGRAPHED BY JONATHAN FREDIN
continued on page 36
30 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

2. CARY MAGAZINE 31
Nur Onvural is a
professor with an
entrepreneurial edge
that’s led her into luxury
homebuilding. “We place
limits on ourselves
sometimes; we forget
how capable we are,”
she says. “If we could
get over those fears,
we would realize we can
do it.”

3. 36 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

At any race staged by Fit & Able, the fin-
ish line is open until the last person crosses it.
“We want everyone to know they’re
successful for doing it,” she said. “There’s
the intrinsic reward of finishing it.”
Wright Colopy recounts many special
storiesofthepeopleshe’smet.Shecherishesthe
moments where kids with physical challenges
are able to succeed, recalling one girl with
Smith-Magenis syndrome, a developmental
disorder, whose father and sister accompanied
her so that she could complete a race.
“I was providing something where ev-
erybody, of every ability, had the same start-
ing gun and the same finish line,” Wright
Colopy said. “It’s a great equalizer.”
She has kept up with many of those
athletes’ lives over the years, seeing them go
on to great accomplishments. Their success
is her reward.
“The reality is, all those people have had
such a wonderful impact on me,” she said.
“It’s a good life just doing what I do.”
Alisa Wright Colopy continued from page 35
tals. Onvural pushes them to come up with
innovative ideas for real workplace issues
such as how to improve efficiency.
“That works really well, especially in
health economics,” she said. “These days in
the health care industry, we always have to
look for cost reductions.”
Onvural is delighted to be back in the
classroom, but she hasn’t shut the door on Sil-
verCrest yet. Her company is still active, and
her general contracting license is current.
“I want to build one last project,” she
said. “I want to downsize my home that I
built several years ago. The kids are gone;
it’s time to downsize. That way I can com-
plete the cycle of the construction compa-
ny, and look into another entrepreneurial
initiative.”
Onvural says her next business will be
something related to education, in order to
better integrate with her teaching career.
In addition to teaching, Onvural has
Nur Onvural continued from page 30
continued on page 38
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4. 38 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
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in the Fuquay District and we’re excited to
know that the town will be working on that
economic development piece in the future,”
Riley said. “We already have solid businesses
that bring people to these districts. I’m re-
searching the types of programs that help
attract people to live downtown.
“I’m fascinated with things happening
as a result of collaboration. That’s when the
world gets better.”
Riley recalls the 2008 opening of Stick
Boy Bread Co., as the start of downtown re-
vitalization. Then came Varina Station.
“Varina Station, a mixed-use develop-
ment project by Bill Akins, ignited the Varina
District,” Riley said. “Soon afterward, Aviator
Brewing Company opened up and the ball
started rolling. (Aviator owner) Mark Doble
has made so much investment in downtown,
rehabbing buildings not the cheap way, but
the right way. We’ve formed a team that un-
derstands the value of downtown.”
Doing what’s comfortable and easy, Ri-
ley says, results in mediocrity.
“But I’m surrounded with people who
are not afraid to do and try,” she said. “Who’d
have thought that Fuquay-Varina could have
the state award-winning En Plein Air Paint-
off event, and auction original art bring-
ing in bids of $2,500? Or Edna’s Café and
Cocktails, a Puerto Rican restaurant serving
the best Cuban sandwich around? And our
music scene! You can’t click on our entertain-
ment calendar and say there’s nothing to do.”
Riley has even opened her own shop,
The Polished Table, putting her love of enter-
taining to work while being careful its offer-
ings don’t overlap those of other local stores.
“Downtown’s recent success has been a
result of citizens feeling they have been part
of the process,” Riley said. “A nonprofit (like
FVDA) provides the avenue for a grassroots
movement to happen. When you have pub-
lic-private partnership, everyone wins. We
rely on the community to fund what we do,
and they have always come through for us.
“Our Shop Local movement, which we
started in 2010, is still a big component of
our work, and our events give people the feel
of what Fuquay-Varina is all about. Simply
said, FVDA grows community.”
The community’s creativity also shows
in facing challenge: With the town library’s
impending move into a new facility on Judd
Parkway, some downtown businesses have
volunteered to house bookshelves and hold
story times to maintain that destination feel.
“For every obstacle you face, there are
creative ways to address it,” Riley said. “Our
organization has created an atmosphere
where people feel heard, can share ideas, and
are not afraid to think big. As a result, these
people become ambassadors because they
feel valued. I have high expectations of what
we can become.”
Naomi Riley continued from page 33

long been committed to volunteering and
involvement with civic groups. For many
years she has been involved with the Ameri-
can Turkish Association of North Carolina
and the Cary Chamber of Commerce. In
July, Onvural was named to the chamber’s
board, and is “honored and excited” to serve.
Onvural says she has gained much from
her years of service. She remains thankful for
the support she received in the three years
she volunteered with the Women Business
Owners Network.
“Actually I was going through a diffi-
cult time in my life, and they turned out to
be energizing for me. Being around such a
wonderful group of women who were dedi-
cated to their businesses and their families,
it lifted me up,” Onvural recalled.
As Onvural looks back on her career,
she is proud of her accomplishments —
earning advanced degrees while caring for
small children, starting a business, continu-
ing to teach while running that business.
“We place limits on ourselves some-
times; we forget how capable we are,” she
said. “We all go through certain types of
fears, and those fears sometimes hold us
back. If we could get over those fears, we
would realize we can do it.”
Nur Onvural continued from page 36
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